Warning: SPOILERS for Lurker.

Lurker is a new psychological thriller that revolves around the relationship between a fan and a rising star. Reminiscent in some ways of the Aubrey Plaza/Elizabeth Olsen film Ingrid Goes West, Lurker tells the story of a retail employee who finds his way into the inner circle of an up-and-coming musician.

The movie has an exciting array of talent both in front of and behind the camera. Starring are Archie Madekwe (Gran Turismo, Saltburn) as the singer Oliver and Théodore Pellerin (Franklin, Beau Is Afraid) as his admirer Matthew. Lurker was written and directed by Alex Russell, who has written and produced on Beef, Dave, and food industry nightmare fuel The Bear.

ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley interviewed Archie Madekwe, Théodore Pellerin, and Alex Russell about Lurker. Topics discussed included the importance of music to Lurker (the soundtrack was provided by Kenny Beats, who previously contributed to the Gran Turismo soundtrack), the relationship between Matthew and Oliver, and the deeper themes behind Matthew’s character.

Music Was Key To Lurker, Whether Or Not Its Singer Could Actually Sing

In Lurker, Arche Madekwe’s Oliver is a singer whose star is rising–and the movie’s original music and score were each tailored to serve his role in the story. “I had the same guy, [Kenny Beats], making all the music and scoring the movie,” Alex Russell said.

The composer’s responsibilities included making Oliver feel like “an artist that someone could be obsessed with” as well as “[contrasting] the sound of the music that Oliver’s making with the instrumentation and stuff we’re using for the score.”

Russell further detailed their thoughtful approach to the music, especially in regard to a song with a lyric that says “I’m your puppet”, which plays twice. “[There] is sort of this sweet version of the song at the top of the movie, and we know who the lyric is referring to,” Russell shared.

“By the second time it plays,” he continued, “it’s referring to something else, or the dynamic has changed.”

Considering how intentional Russell and his composer were about the music, it’s surprising that singing apparently wasn’t a prerequisite for the actor who would portray Oliver. “It was very lucky that Archie turned out to be able to sing,” Russell shared. “That wasn’t a given.”

Oliver & Matthew’s Dynamic, Explained

As revealed in the movie’s trailer, Oliver and Matthew developed quite an unhealthy relationship in Lurker. When asked why Oliver believes Matthew understands him so well, Archie Madekwe replied, “I don’t necessarily know that he does.”

“I think that’s a hope,” Madekwe continued, “but it’s also a weird subconscious power play of letting somebody know, ‘You know me so well,’ or ‘I’m so scared of being misunderstood, but I think you actually get me.’”

In Madekwe’s mind, “Oliver’s a kind of person that you’d have that conversation with, and then, a couple days of later, you might overhear him saying a similar thing to somebody else, and be like, ‘Wait, what? I thought that we had this special connection.’”

But the actor believes Oliver isn’t necessarily moving through the world attempting to deceive. “I think that it’s an earnest comment that he is scared to be misunderstood in a world where he has no true friends,” the actor said. “Everyone’s on his payroll, and yet it is a dynamic that he exists in.”

“Maybe he wants to be understood, but at the same time, if anyone was to look too deep into who he really was, he probably wouldn’t enjoy that either.”

In terms of the relationship between Oliver and Matthew, Madekwe said, “What he sees in Matthew is that [Matthew] is able to see the version that [Oliver] wants everybody else to see, whether it’s real or not. He’s like, ‘Oh, you see this thing that I’m trying to put out.”

Matthew’s Journey Is Bigger Than Oliver

At one point in the interview, Théodore Pellerin described Lurker by saying, “We’re telling the story of a little freak who’s latching [on] to a pop star.” But he went on to explain that the movie is about much more.

“It’s also the story of someone who is desperately trying to change social class [and] to change his life.” Even if that isn’t obvious on the surface of the film, Pellerin doubled down, saying “It felt like telling the story of a class defector trying to escape; his way into Oliver’s circle was, most importantly, a way out of something.”

“He’s in his mid twenties, he’s living with his grandma, he’s clearly lonely, doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends, and he’s working a retail job that he feels miserable in. It’s the situation of a lot of people,” Pellerin continued, “and why not try to aspire to something bigger?”

Even with all of that, Russell clarified that he wanted something very specific for Matthew. “I like to think that if you ever did meet his parents, they would just be pretty well-adjusted adults, and you’re kind of like, ‘This could have been a normal kid. This could have been anyone.’”

“My intention,” the director added, “was to not have this be like, ‘Oh, he had some kind of traumatic event in his childhood or some absence that caused him to be this way,’ because that is kind of the typical way of doing a movie like this. I wanted it to feel like this could actually be anyone.’”

Lurker’s Ending Explained

The end of Lurker features a time jump which reveals Oliver, complete with a new look and no hair dye, appreciating Matthew’s work at a documentary presentation. And, in that moment, the singer appears perhaps the most authentic to himself that he does in the whole film.

“The reality of it was [that] we were signifying a pᴀssage of time,” Madekwe said of Oliver’s hair change. “If he still had the pink hair, it could have been a week afterwards.” Still, he said, “There is something about him being more authentic to himself, and he’s not as dressed up. His outfit’s quite casual as well.”

Russell jumped in too, saying “We wanted to indicate a little bit [that] he’s grown up now, and he’s a little more ʙuттoned up and a little more of an adult, and everything we’ve seen up until this moment is imbued into how seriously he’s taking himself at that moment.”

But another big reveal by the end of Lurker is that Oliver hasn’t destroyed a piece of blackmail that Matthew has in the form of a hard drive. “It becomes no longer about the blackmail,” Russell shared. “I think what he sees in that moment reveals to him that Matthew actually is genuinely indispensable to him.”